Alasco wants to create better and more affordable housing. It’s pretty obvious that the founders Anselm Bauer, Sebastian Schuon and Benjamin Günther are preaching to the choir in Munich. With the software developed by the founders, who made an impressive exit from their previous startup Stylight, they want to make construction project processes for builders and developers considerably more efficient and transparent.
Alasco aims to provide fully digital cost control of construction projects for builders and developers. Co-founder Benjamin Günther explained why that’s necessary:
“Until now, manual processes and old software have been used. The advantage Alasco gives builders owners is cost savings, such as attaining cash discounts, increased security thanks to better traceability and greater cost transparency provided by real-time data.”
Until now, that kind of functionality was only available as outdated on-premises software, a usage model for server-based computer programs, which can only be used on site.
Alasco saves time and money
Because a great number of different players are usually involved in construction projects, Alasco’s solution now makes it possible for everyone to work with the same software. That eliminates tedious email, or even mail correspondence. The fact that it will speed up processes is obvious. Based on the motto “time is money,” the founders view time savings as one of the most important factors provided by their product because that is exactly where costs can be cut in construction projects. The data produced during a project should also become more reliable thanks to Alasco.
The three founders getting involved in a new project once again was — after their success with Stylight — an adjustment. At Stylight, they had roughly 200-250 employees working for them. With Alasco, they started again from square one, just the three of them in a room without any employees. Developing everything on their own again from scratch was fun, said Günther, but he also admitted how happy he is to now have a team of 15 employees to support him and his colleagues. That has allowed everyone to focus on their actual strengths, which also speeds things up.
Munich as a construction hot spot: A definite local advantage
The team was put together during the first six months of the company’s existence while they were also fine-tuning the product with clients. Benjamin Günther and his partners got more expert support on board in the form of shareholders: That includes representatives from Holtzbrinck Ventures and Picus, and they’re also supported by the Flixbus founders. The clear objective for 2019 is “rapid growth.”
As experts in the scene, the former Stylight bosses still feel right at home in Munich. They’re also pleased about being in the right spot when it comes to the construction industry. Günther said:
“We’re really happy that Alasco focuses on a topic in which Munich has a clear locational advantage compared to other cities. All of the major construction and industry trade fairs are held in Munich, and a lot of developers are located in Munich and the surrounding area.”
Don’t be too accommodating!
It looks like everything is in place for another success story. It only remains to be seen which obstacles the Alasco team will have to tackle. Günther is optimistic in that regard:
“It’s incredibly motivating to work with an excellent team to create an excellent product that solves real client problems and gets a bit better every day. The greatest dangers would be to use short-term hacks or to be too accommodating to a few big accounts. We’re being very careful to make sure that won’t happen to us.”
